<![CDATA[The absence of traffic signal systems at intersections with high levels of vehicle density raises legal issues regarding the maintenance of order, safety, and the smooth flow of traffic, particularly concerning the authority to regulate traffic flow and the responsibility for ensuring the safety of road users. The Wates Road intersection in Sleman Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta, is one such location facing these conditions, high vehicle volume without the support of traffic lights, thereby requiring direct regulation by parties with the capacity to control traffic flow. This study aims to analyze traffic control practices at intersections without traffic lights carried out by the police and SUPELTAS, as well as to formulate strategies for increasing road users’ legal awareness. This study employs an empirical legal research method with a sociological approach to law. Research data were obtained through direct observation of traffic control practices at the Wates Road Intersection to examine how legal norms regarding the maintenance of traffic order are applied in everyday life. The results indicate that the police play a primary role in regulating traffic based on the legal authority granted by legislation. Police actions include stopping vehicles and giving instructions to drivers through whistles and hand signals as a preventive exercise of the authority under Article 104 of Law No. 22 of 2009. SUPELTAS direct traffic outside police duty hours without equivalent authority, so their role is grounded only in the public participation provisions of Articles 256 to 258. Road users nonetheless comply with both, which indicates that order rests on legal behavior and public acceptance, not on formal authority alone. The study concludes that sustained order requires legal awareness cultivated through legal education, law-aware villages, digital campaigns, and banners, rather than the continuous presence of officers.]]>
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